HOUSING AND HYGIENE 293 



The efficiency of a poultry fence depends as mucli upon 

 having an invisible top as upon the heigiit. The height of tlic 

 fence will need to be in inverse proportion to the size of the 

 yard it surrounds. Any but the Asiatic Ijreed will fly very 

 high if they can sec a place to alight, and it is necessary to 

 have the tops of the gates invisible as well as the fence. 



Care of the House. — The poultry-house should be well 

 bedded with straw at all times when it is avaihible at reason- 

 able cost. When not available, shavings, cotton-seed hulls 

 or other similar material may be substituted. The straw 

 should be renewed whenever it becomes badly broken up, 

 damp, or so full of droppings that grains fed out of the hand 

 are not quickly lost from sight, compelling the fowls to 

 scratch to find them. Where birds spend most of their time 

 out of doors and the house is so dry that the drojjpings dry 

 out soon after l^eing voided, they need l)e removed only at 

 rather infrecjucnt intervals. If they tend to remain moist 

 for some time, however, they should be frecjuently removed, 

 as their presence is likely to cause dirty eggs by being carried 

 to the nest on the feet of the hens, and in a moist C(.>uditiiin 

 they serve as a harbor for germs. 



As a precautionary measure the poultry-house and all its 

 fixtures should be thoroughly cleaned and then soaked in 

 every part with a good strong disinfectant at least once a 

 year, preferably before the beginning of the breeding and 

 growing season. This should be repeated promptly upon the 

 appearance of any ailment that shows the least sign of being 

 communicated from one individual to another. In cold 

 weather, low-grade kerosene with enough crude carbolic 

 acid to give it a distinct odor is preferable to the use of such 

 sprays as are administered in water solutions. 



The most frequent cause for spraying is the appearance of 

 the chicken mite. It is usually first noticed on the under 

 side of the perches or in the corners of the nests. This tiny, 

 spider-like bloodsucker does not Vwe on the body of the hen as 

 does the less troublesome louse, but at some place where it can 

 make its way onto the fowl's body for the purpose of feed- 

 ing with fair regularity. Unless promptly checked, they 

 multiply with enormous rapidity, particularly in warm 



